The apocalypse struck, and I became a druid.

Page 233

The little girl and the bee always bring a sense of childlike innocence to everyone.

"Alright, Yinyin, don't bother Xiaoba and Lvrui for too long," Xu Ming said softly after a while.

Xu Yinyin was a little reluctant, but she still nodded obediently, patted Xiao Ba and Lü Rui one last time, and thanked them earnestly:

"Thank you, Xiao Ba, Lv Rui, I'll come find you to play again next time!"

Xiao Ba gently touched her forehead with its tentacles, and Green Bud buzzed before flapping its wings and taking flight, returning to the side of the Emerald Tree Spirit.

As Xu Yinyin watched them fly away, her little face beamed with happiness. She looked up at Xu Ming and said, "Dad, Xiao Ba said they have to go now, but they like me and welcome me to come play again next time!"

"Okay, okay." Xu Ming smiled and ruffled his daughter's hair.

"Yinyin, you're great! But you've just awakened your ability, so you can't use it too often. Be careful not to hurt yourself, okay?"

"Okay!" Xu Yinyin nodded obediently.

……

The breakthrough by all members lasted for several hours.

When Han Ning finally withdrew from his life domain and returned to human form, his face showed no sign of exhaustion.

Maintaining such a large and intense area continuously is also a huge burden for him.

Shortly after returning to the lounge, Chairman Wu knocked on his door, holding a list that had just been compiled.

"Boss, the results are in!"

His voice carried a hint of excitement.

"Our gathering area, including all the teachers and students of the Agricultural and Forestry University who joined later, as well as some members of Panshi, now has a total of 387 people!"

"After this all-out breakthrough, everyone's strength has reached the Black Stone level. It can be said that there is no ordinary person left in our settlement area."

"In addition, among these 387 people, 226 are at the Great Black Stone level or above, and the vast majority of them just broke through."

"And the Black Iron grade..." Chairman Wu's tone became extremely solemn.

"There are 23 people in total, including us!"

"..." Chairman Wu gave a detailed report on the list of these Black Iron experts.

23 Iron-tier characters!

The strength of the Biyun Cluster has reached an unprecedented peak!

After helping his companions achieve a collective breakthrough, all the monster crystals in his inventory were used up, and the overall strength of the gathering area jumped to a new level. However, he himself was still far from the 120,000 experience points required to reach level 16.

To improve, you either need to acquire the bloodline of the Fear Whale or the Blood Ray, or obtain a large number of Black Iron level monster crystals.

After a moment of contemplation, Han Ning sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, calmed his mind, and tried to communicate with the vast and boundless will of nature.

His consciousness continued to rise, as if merging with heaven and earth, and countless fragments of chaotic information flooded into his senses.

He focused his mind and asked, "Where can the bloodline of the red ray and the whale be found, in this great natural will? And where are the fragments of radiant silver distributed?"

After a brief silence, images, some blurry and some clear, began to appear.

The screen shook violently, and then everything went dark.

Occasionally, glimpses of mineral light flash by, vaguely revealing what may be a deep, dark trench in the ocean.

Sudden.

Under the faint glow of the mineral.

A massive, mountain-like shadow lurked slowly between the seabed trenches, exuding a chilling aura.

“Whale? It looks like a creature related to the bloodline of the whale, but this deep sea is too far away from where we are.”

Although the exact location is unknown, the surrounding environment does not match the vicinity of the mountains where they are located.

Immediately afterwards, the scene shifted, and a vast expanse of thick, impenetrable black mist enveloped everything. It was pure black tide power, cutting off all possibility of observation and approach.

Just when Han Ning thought the clues were about to run out, the last few images flashed by.

The scene changed.

It was a place full of traces of human creation.

Clean and tidy man-made houses.

Various instruments were displayed.

Several strangely shaped creatures, their bodies covered with dark red or grayish-blue scales, vaguely resembling manta rays, were bound in a cylindrical container filled with seawater.

Some of them are asleep, while others are too weak to struggle.

Human figures dressed in white or dark uniforms bustled around, recording data and operating instruments.

The scene abruptly ends there.

Han Ning's mind stirred slightly, and he continued to press for the whereabouts of the Radiant Silver fragments.

A new scene emerges.

Some fragments are scattered in the deep ocean where the Kuroshio Current is strong.

Countless terrifying monsters roamed around.

Others were encased in writhing black energy cocoons, their auras completely shielded, making them difficult to locate.

However, there are a few exceptions.

He saw some humans placing fragments imbued with the aura of shimmering silver into containers and carefully hiding them in heavily guarded locations.

A series of flashing images provided Han Ning with many clues.

That's for sure.

Both the bloodline of the Red Ray of the Terror Whale and the Radiant Silver Fragment are extremely difficult to obtain through conventional means.

The deep sea is unreachable, and the Kuroshio Current is full of restricted areas. The only seemingly feasible clue points to humanity itself.

The mysterious research institution is located in some unknown settlement area.

Regarding the clues about the red ray within the human realm and the glittering silver fragments, perhaps we still need to obtain them from the Sword of Judgment. After a moment's thought, Han Ning took out his communicator.

"Chief Gu, this is Han Ning."

soon.

The deafening roar of artillery fire and Gu Cheng's slightly muffled voice came from the other end of the communication line:

"Chief Han? What a pleasant surprise! What are your orders?"

"Are you fighting?" Han Ning asked.

"Yes, we are using the Sword of Judgment together to wipe out the remaining water ghouls."

“I need to discuss cooperation with the Sword of Judgment,” Han Ning said bluntly. “Could you introduce me to Colonel Li Feng?”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the call, followed by the faint sound of a man's angry roar in the background:

"Rocket launcher salvo, coordinates 7-4-0, Awakened Third Squad advance!"

A few seconds later, Gu Cheng's voice rang out again:

"Perfect timing. Colonel Li Feng is right here with me. We're currently at a defensive line 12 kilometers north of the original highland outpost. If it's convenient for you, you can come here anytime to discuss this in detail. However, the front line is still advancing, so you need to be extra careful."

"Understood, see you tomorrow."

After agreeing on a time, Han Ning hung up the communicator.

……

The next day at noon, Han Ning rode Xuebing to the agreed location.

Even before approaching the main battlefield, the air was already thick with the smell of gunpowder and blood.

When they reached a high point, the sight before them surprised Han Ning slightly.

He had assumed that the Sword of Judgment would help by sending out a large number of highly skilled Awakened Ones.

Yes, no.

Twelve Type 05A 155mm self-propelled howitzers are conducting saturation barrage firing.

The shockwave from the explosion hurled hordes of black serpent monsters into the air.

Further back, a large number of PHL-16 370mm rocket artillery units were firing in unison.

A barrage of rockets, trailing plumes of flame, covered the entire western side of the canyon. Amidst the deafening explosions, countless weaker water ghouls were blasted into pieces.

Hearing the deafening roar of artillery fire, Han Ning quickly approached.

"Chief Han, you must rarely see scenes of these firearms attacking monsters, right?"

Li Feng's voice came from the side.

He appeared beside Han Ning like a ghost, his combat uniform still neat and his expression calm.

"Through numerous battles with monsters, we've concluded that modern firepower combined with an Awakened team is the most efficient way to clear out these scum."

Han Ning noticed that slightly closer to the water zombie army, there were some mechanical beasts moving at high speed.

It's a tank!

For every three 99A main battle tanks, one Awakener squad is deployed. As the water ghouls charge forward under artillery fire, the disruptive Awakeners immediately create obstacles to hinder the monsters' advance.

Power-type Awakened Ones use specially made alloy shields to form a mobile defensive line.

Furthermore, awakened beings with enhanced perception guide the placement of artillery fire, ensuring that each bombardment precisely covers the areas with the highest concentration of monsters.

Just then, an alarm sounded from the front lines.

"Report! Five giant water ghouls covered in heavy bone armor have broken through the artillery barrage and are rushing towards the artillery position at an alarming speed!"

A clear report came through Colonel Li Feng's personal communicator.

"Heavy machine gun crews provide cover, send Awakened Ones to intercept." The command channel immediately issued the order.

On a frozen hillside about one kilometer away.

After the temporary fortifications were built.

The 12.7mm heavy machine gun roared wildly.